Breaking the Color Code
There are two ways to pick the right color of clothing, suggests Georgette Braadt, an image and communication consultant based in Allentown, Pennsylvania. One is to select colors that complement your natural body coloring. The other is based on what response you want to elicit from people or a particular situation.

In either case, "everything has to work together," says image consultant Carolyn Gustafson. "Complementary colors may not be complimentary to you."

First you have to know what colors work well with the colors of your hair, eyes, and skin. "Men don't buy that winter-spring-summer-fall thing used by women who have their colors done," she says.

Anyway, she adds, "trying to explain colors is like trying to explain nuclear physics in five sentences." To make it a lot simpler, think about the temperature, the depth, and the intensity of color, she suggests.